Snippets From an Elf's Life
by Meerkatgirl13
Summary: Spin-off of Why fear me? I'm only an elf. Join Eva as she takes you through the years of her life. A series of one-shots featuring Eva's past, present, and future. Features Artie, Charming, and others!


_A/N Hey, it's me! Well, since Eva Thalaela from my other story, _Why fear me? I'm only an elf_, is so popular, I decided to write little snippets from her life before, during, and after _Why fear me_. This one i wrote for an assignment for my summer-school class. I'm not sure if i should rate this T or M for blood, so I'm just gonna give you warnings when there's graphic scenes. Not all of these stories are gonna be bloody or gory, some are gonna be fluffy and sweet. Or maybe even sad. Well, please read and review, I would love some feedback on this story ^^._

**_Warning! There's graphic descriptions of killing! Viewer discretion advised!_**

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><p>"One, two, four, five! You got it!"* exclaimed an elderly man above the loud clanging of metal against metal.<p>

Grinning, a girl of about 13 parried each strike of her opponent's sword and, seeing an opening, jabbed at the man's ribs only to be intercepted by his sword.

He clucked his tongue disapprovingly and stated, "You almost got me that time, Eva, but you need to be quick like a striking snake. Now, again!"

Eva nodded, brushed her blue-black bangs behind one of her long ears and took a battle stance. Both of them waited for the other to start the match. Finally, impatience getting the best of her, Eva charged in with a high-pitched yell and swung towards the man's ribs with surprising speed. The two swords met with a shower of sparks. Both the young elven girl and the older man danced around the stone courtyard right in front of the four-story wooden building that was the orphanage.

The orphanage itself was located on a cliff that towered over the sea and right on the outskirts of a town. The town was about three miles from the orphanage and sprawling out a short ways over the rolling green hills. Many kinds of creatures live there, from normal humans to the talking animals to small fairies.

"That's it! Make sure you move your feet, elfling! One who stands like a statue is the one who is dead," the man said as he blocked Eva's strikes and slashes.

With a yell, Eva slashed at the man's open side and wound her sword around his when he blocked it. With a flick of her wrist, she tore the sword out of the man's hand and sent it clattering on the stone. She quickly flicked her sword point up to his neck and held it there. Both the girl and the man stood there, panting from their battle until Eva slowly lowered her sword, a huge grin spreading across her face at the same time.

"I did it! I finally beat you Mamoru!" Eva cried in glee, sheathing her practice sword then bounding towards the man.

He grinned wearily and retrieved his sword, sheathing it and ruffling Eva's long hair in affection.

"Yes elfling, you finally succeeded in defeating me. I'm proud of you," Mamoru said then leading Eva back to the orphanage saying, "Come and let us get something to eat and rest up a bit. I think you're ready to get a sword of your own."

Eva gasped in delight and excitement, her grin getting bigger than it already was. When they entered the dim orphanage, they made their way to the kitchen to get something to eat.

"There you are Mamoru! There's a huge spill in the cafeteria and I need you to clean it up!" a voice called suddenly, making Eva and Mamoru jump. They turned to see a woman in her late 40s in a dark gray dress stalking up to the pair. With a sigh, Mamoru nodded and headed towards the broom closet where he keeps his mop and bucket. Eva gazed at him sympathetically and continued on her way towards the kitchen before the Head Matron's sharp voice stopped her.

"And where do you think you're going, Miss. Eva? You are to go up to your room and stay there until the other girls and I get back from the town. Am I understood?" the woman continued, giving Eva a sharp glare.

Biting back a sharp retort, Eva only nodded and spun on her heel, heading up the stairs to her room. The elven girl knew better then to talk back to Ms. Lilit, the Head Matron; she gives out painful punishments to the children who break the rules, possibly harsher punishments to the only elf orphan. Eva still has the welts from her last punishment on her back from when she punched a kid a few days ago.

She sighed when she came to her door on the first floor of the orphanage, cringing at the loud squeak the rusty hinges emitted when she opened the door. With a sigh, the elf girl closed the door and sat on her thin mattress, absentmindedly gazing out the dirty window to the rolling green hills, her vivid purple eyes examining the landscape. She then turned her gaze to the other objects in her small room.

Up against the window was a shabby desk with a few pieces of parchment and a quill with its ink on it. In the closet hung a few dark gray dresses, which were the uniforms of the orphanage, and a few that she either bought with the small allowance Mamoru gave her or Mamoru had made her.

Her favorite dress was the one Mamoru had made for her. It was a deep royal blue long sleeved dress with a black underskirt that showed when the blue split right down the middle and was held together by black lacing. There was a deep purple belt-like piece of cloth that was sewn around the waist of the dress. The neckline was of a square cut, common with the young adults and teenagers.

Sighing, she changed into one of her gray orphanage uniforms, sparing a longing glance at the blue one. After she was done changing, she placed her other gray dress into her laundry basket and walked over to the window, gazing out of it longingly.

She smirked as a plan formed in her head as she saw the other girls and Ms. Lilit heading down the path towards town. Her gaze stayed on the line of people for a few seconds before she turned her attentions to the hills beside the path. There was a series of hills that ran alongside the path, the valleys dipping so low so that one couldn't be seen from the path.

She quickly glanced around her room and the clearing right outside her window before she carefully opened it. Right before she jumped out, she ran back to her bed and shoved her hand under her pillow, grasping and pulling out a sharp dagger and a small pouch of money.

She strapped the dagger to her forearm underneath her long sleeve and adjusted it so that it would slide out into her hand when she flicked her wrist. She then tucked the small pouch into one of her pockets that were hidden by the purple cloth belt. Nodding, she quickly strode back to the window and jumped out, easily absorbing the shock and standing up again.

Glancing around again, she took a deep breath and started for the first hill, glancing back every so often to make sure no-one was following her. As soon as she reached the dip in between the two hills, she started sprinting towards the town with amazing speed. She had always been the faster runner out of all the other orphans, even when she was a little girl. She'd always outrun even the fastest human with ease, giggling in glee all the while. Even now Eva had to resist laughing in joy as the wind whipped her long black hair out behind her, like an ebony streamer caught in the wind.

After about a half-hour, Eva caught sight of the town, and she sped up even more. As she approached the outskirts, she slowed down to a jog, eventually walking as she reached the main town. She smiled faintly and closed her eyes, breathing in the smells of the town. Opening her eyes after a moment, she walked through the town until she reached the busy market.

It was crowded with many kinds of people and market stalls. There were bread stalls right outside of the bakery, food stalls from the farmers trying to sell their crops, flower stalls giving off the intoxicating scents of a vast variety of flowers and plants and several more stalls Eva haven't been to before.

Following her nose, Eva pushed her way through the thick crowd to the bakery and purchased a small loaf of freshly baked bread and a small jar of honey to smear over it. Using her finger to spread the sweet liquid, Eva smeared the honey on top of the bread then took a bite of it, closing her eyes in bliss as she chewed.

She quickly finished her treat and licked the honey off of her fingers as she browsed the market, eying a few things in interest. Finally she came upon her favorite shop; the weapons shop. Grinning, she opened the door and entered, pausing to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside.

She walked along the rows of sharp and deadly weapons, occasionally picking one up and turning it over in her hands. When she came upon the swords, she marveled at them with her hands behind her back to prevent from taking them down from the shelves and testing them. Soon she caught sight of one she really liked. It had a dark blue scabbard with green ivy twisting around it. The sword itself was gleaming silver with a simple cross-guard. She quickly identified it to be a longsword, and a well made one at that.

She gazed at it longingly before forcing herself to turn away and walk out the door and back into the bright sunlight. Blinking, she glanced at the sun and silently determined that she should get back to the orphanage before she was caught outside of her room.

She glanced around and ducked into an alley, quickly navigating herself back to the edge of the town. Occasionally she would get the feeling that she was being followed and glanced over her shoulder often. Moving her feet faster, she half jogged out of the alley and out into the hills. Pausing to rest on a hill, she heard the hoof-steps of a horse behind her; two pairs by her count. Turning around, she saw two burly men on horses galloping towards her, a hard, evil look in both of their eyes.

She froze in fear for a few seconds then turned and ran, sprinting off into an unknown direction. She heard a shout from behind her and then the sound of horses whinnying. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the men were quickly gaining on her, their swords in their hands. Eva's foot caught on a rock sticking out of the ground and she fell forward with a yelp of surprise. Hitting the ground hard, she lay there, stunned before trying to get up. She was too late; the two horses came to a stop around her, trapping her in.

"She's a pretty one, this one is. How much do you think we'll get for her head?" one of them asked, jumping off of his horse and grabbing her jaw roughly to get a better look at her.

"Probably over 120 gold, she is a young one," the other man replied, doing the same as his partner except getting out a length of rope.

"However, I think she'll be worth a lot more if she was still alive."

Eva's eyes filled with scared tears.

"Please, please don't hurt me! I didn't do anything wrong, I swear!" she whimpered, her eyes wide in fear as she tried to pull away.

The man tightened his grip on her face, making her cry out in pain.

"Quiet you! You're an elf, are you not?" the man holding her face growled out, making Eva nod fearfully.

"Well, you're coming with us and we'll decide whether we'll kill you or not," he continued with an evil grin spreading on his face, "Elves are not welcome here, and you will fetch a good amount."

Fear and another emotion filled Eva's eyes, making them go from vivid purple to a dark plum. She slid her dagger out of its scabbard on her arm and into her hand with a mere flick of her wrist. Seeing this, the man's companion shouted out, but it was too late.

With a high-pitched scream, Eva jabbed the dagger into the man's stomach, making hot blood run over her fingers. The man yelled in pain and doubled over, giving Eva the opportunity to grab the man's hair and jerk it back to slit his throat. As the man slumped over on the ground clutching his throat, the other man had drawn his sword and was advancing towards Eva with caution. She jumped to her feet and took a low battle stance, baring her teeth in anger and a morbid glee. The man gazed into her darkened eyes and recognized what was filling them.

"Dreyrgjarn," he whispered in amazement and fear, not believing that this sweet-looking elven girl had this particular state of mind.

With a banshee-like scream, Eva charged and dodged the jab the man took with his sword, ending up behind him. Seeing an opportunity, Eva jumped and landed on the man's back, hooking her arms around his neck and shoulders. The man dropped his sword and frantically scrabbled at her hands. Grinning in a dark glee, Eva clenched his lower torso with her legs to hold herself up as she used her free hand to yank back the man's head by his hair. The man yelled in terror which turned into gurgles as the elven girl slit his throat. She jumped off of him as he crumpled to the ground, gagging and spitting up crimson blood that stained the green grass. Eva only watched her victims as they writhed on the ground before they became still, their glassy eyes still filled in fear and pain. Her eyes then turned from the darkened plum that they had been to her normal vivid purple.

She staggered backwards as a sudden fatigue hit her, making her reach up and hold her head. Seeing crimson on her hands, she jerked her hand back and stared in horror at the blood coating her hands.

"Wha-what happened?" she asked out loud before lifting her eyes to the bloody grass and the bodies that lay in pools of their own blood.

"Oh my spirits!" she cried in horror before glancing at her right hand which still held the bloody dagger.

Another horrified cry escaped her lips as she dropped the dagger as if it was red hot and frantically backed away from the bloody scene.

"I-I gotta get out of here! I-I need to wash this off!" she stammered then turned tail and bolted towards a nearby stream.

When she reached the rocky banks, she fell to her knees and frantically shoved her hands into the freezing water, rubbing them together to get the blood off faster. When she was finally satisfied that her hands were clean, she rubbed at her face with the water to clean any blood that might have been smeared on it. When she was done, she then looked down at her dress and whimpered at the blood splatters all across the gray fabric. Her hands shook as she traced a dark streak on the side of her dress, the blood already drying on the fabric, ruining any chance that it could be washed away.

Hearing the soft hoof steps of a horse, Eva looked up to see that one of the men's horses was slowly approaching her. It stopped a short distance away from her and whinnied softly, shaking its entire body as if shaking off water. It then reared and the saddle and everything attached to it slid off of its back, landing on the ground with a thud. The horse then snorted and shook its head, turning tail and galloping off into the hills.

Eva sat there, stunned, for a few seconds before cautiously crawling towards the saddle, hesitantly opening the saddle bags. With a delighted cry, she pulled out a folded tunic and leggings, along with a belt. Silently thanking the horse several times over, she stripped out of her dress and quickly pulled on the tunic and leggings. They felt odd against her skin, but she ignored it and attached the belt around her waist, holding the leggings and tunic in place as she scooped up her discarded and bloody dress.

She dropped it on the rocky back a few feet from the water and found two rocks that produced sparks when hit against each other. The elf quickly set the dress on fire and watched the flames consume the bloody dress. Turning her back on the flames, she dropped the rocks and started back for the orphanage, quickly ducking behind the building and climbing up to her open window. Hearing shouts and scuffling footsteps from downstairs, Eva figured that Ms. Lilit and the other girls had just gotten back.

Quickly changing into another uniform, Eva quickly stashed the tunic and leggings into the darkest part of her closet then flopping on her bed in exhaustion. She quickly fell into a deep sleep just as Ms. Lilit opened the door to check on the elf. With a satisfied nod, the older woman backed out and closed the door.

After that day, Eva was never the same sweet, fun-loving, giggling girl that they all knew.

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><p><em>AN * Yes, I skipped "three" on purpose. It's a refrence from one of my favorite movies, Lord of the Rings. _

_Anyway, I really hope I did good on this. So please, please review, and I'll have the next chapter of _Why fear me? _out as soon as i can... school's been getting in the way of that -_-. _

_~Meerkatgirl13_


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